Step Out To Fitness
Newcastle Herald
Monday September 4, 2006
Competing with yourself, egged on by a little device that doesn't cost much and nobody else need know about, can make you fitter as you just get on with life.
IMAGINE a little $US20 ($27) gadget that, just by wearing it, made you move. A pedometer is just that a device that rides with you, counting your steps throughout the day, nudging you ever so slyly. "It's like having this little tiny coach sitting on your shoulder, only it's on your belt," says Maggie Spilner, walking editor at US magazine Prevention for 17 years and now a freelance writer and creator of walking tours (www.walkforallseasons.com). "It's a reminder that, 'OK, I need to get up and walk somewhere whatever it takes to move my pedometer up to a certain number'," she says. Pursuit of that certain number is something that American physical therapist Jeff Wilkens has witnessed firsthand. "It's kind of like a little game people play with themselves," says Wilkens, of the Sports Medicine Center at Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin. "Everybody's got that competitive side to them. You get a little motivated to sneak in a few more steps. Pretty soon you've created a little bit of a lifestyle change," he says. Wilkens recalls a patient who wore a pedometer and had a goal of walking 10,000 steps a number cited by researchers as a goal that brings health benefits. "She would play games with herself," Wilkens says. "She would park further away from the building. She would try to get up as often as she could during the work day. Little things that would get her up and moving. She would end up walking four to five miles (six to eight kilometres) a day by doing those little things." A 2005 study published in the journal Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise found that wearing a pedometer meant taking an extra 2000 steps in a day which could mean the difference between gaining weight and maintaining or losing weight. People should aim for 10,000 steps, but putting on the pedometer is a great way to see where you stand, Spilner says. Most people with desk jobs tend to log in 2000 to 3000 steps daily, she says. Once you know how much you walk in a day, try to increase it, says Wendy Bumgardner, an avid walker and certified marathon walking coach who writes the walking guide for About.com. Spilner recommends small changes, such as adding 500 steps to your daily goal. "Once you've reached that goal, you put the marker up again," she says. The simplest pedometers count steps. But in this era of ever-evolving gadgetry, you can get pedometers that count calories, keep tabs on blood pressure and heart rate, play music and even speak to you. So how do you choose the right pedometer? What do you need to look for? Some key points to keep in mind: ? Watch the buttons. Some pedometers have the annoying design feature of a reset button that can be easily bumped, wiping out the record of the steps you've recorded for the day or week. To avoid this annoyance, Wilkens says to look for a pedometer with a "clamshell" cover over the reset button. ? Wear it right. To work properly, almost every pedometer there are a few exceptions should hang straight up and down. ? Stay with the basics. Spilner thinks that all you really need to do is count steps."If that's what rings your bell, then sure, buy a high-tech one," she says. But "if it confuses you, you'd be less likely to use it". ? Is this thing working? With a good pedometer, age should not affect accuracy unless the battery is wearing out, Spilner says. "Accuracy stems from the mechanism inside. If you're paying $US15 or $US20 ($20 or $27), it should be fairly accurate." Bumgardner recommends choosing one with what's known as an accelerometer mechanism..? Strings attached. Make sure your pedometer has a string or strap, especially if you wear it all day. Who knows where it could land if it falls off.
© 2006 Newcastle Herald
Share This